MAY. 



644 



MAY. 



lent for hardening off all sorts of bedding 

 stock for the flower garden ; the lights 

 can be pulled quite off, and the plants 

 are thus inured gradually to the open 

 air. 



Celosias, Coxcombs, &>c. These always 

 do best when plunged in heat and grown 

 in a frame or shallow pit. Advantage 

 should be taken of a frame from which 

 early vegetables have been removed for 

 growing these with balsams and similar 

 plants, the hotbed having been relined, 

 and the old soil removed and new soil 

 introduced. 



Tttberoses. Tuberoses planted now will 

 bloom in autumn if the pots are plunged 

 in a hotbed ; they require no water till 

 the roots begin to push, when they should 

 be watered every second day. 



2. FRUIT AND VEGETABLES. Capsicums, 

 Tomatoes, &c., Renewal of Frames for. 

 Frame potatoes, carrots, cauliflowers, &c., 

 will be fit for the table this month, and 

 may be replaced by any of the above, 

 taking out the old soil and replacing it 

 with fresh, and applying new linings. 

 Such are also very useful for growing 

 capsicums and tomatoes, either for fruiting 

 or merely preparatorily to planting them 

 under a wall ; in either case they should 

 be grown in pots. 



Cucumbers Closing Frames. Shut up 

 the lights about 4 or 5 p.m., and open 

 as early in the morning as the weather 

 will permit, and water before closing in 

 preference to other times, as during the 

 night the plants revel in a moist, dewy 

 atmosphere. 



Cucumbers Pinching Back and Water- 

 ing. Attend well to pinching back under- 

 growth, and pegging down the stems ; 

 they will root at every joint by so doing, 

 and continue bearing much longer. Water 

 must be given more freely as the weather 

 gets warmer ; but see that the plants are 

 not chilled, which will be the case if the 



water is not of a temperature nearly equal 

 to that of the bed 



Cucumbers Shading and Repotting. 

 Shading will be necessary for newly 

 removed plants, if the sun is powerful ; 

 but plants can be repotted, or planted in 

 such a manner that they do not in the 

 least miss the moving : let the pots be 

 thoroughly clean before using them, and 

 the plants will turn out without breaking 

 the ball of earth or disturbing the roots. 



Cucumbers Ventilation. Give plenty 

 of air to growing plants, particularly in 

 sunny weather. Neither cucumbers nor 

 melons should be shaded j it is necessary 

 that the stems be matured and ripened, 

 in order to secure a good bearing condi- 

 tion ; plants that are vigorous and healthy 

 will bear the full light of the sun, if air is 

 admitted proportioned to its influence. 



Hotbeds, Making. Hotbeds may still be 

 made for starting cucumbers and melons 

 with greater certainty of obtaining fruit, and 

 also with far less labour and material than 

 formerly, the weather being much warmer, 

 and the sun aiding by his rays the efforts 

 of the cultivator ; but the same directions 

 apply now as before for making the beds, 

 excepting that they need not be quite so 

 high ; 3 feet or rather more will be suffi- 

 cient. Beware of building hotbeds with 

 long or insufficiently prepared dung : the 

 violence with which it ferments will 

 destroy the plants or lay the foundation 

 of a weak, sickly growth, accompanied by 

 mildew and other pests. Great caution is 

 necessary, because over-heating is more 

 likely to occur, and is less easily detected 

 now than in colder weather. Wait a 

 week, or even two, rather than build with 

 insufficiently prepared dung. Sow the 

 seed and raise the plants as already 

 directed, and treat in nearly all respects 

 in the manner described. 



Melons. The principal summer crop of 

 melons should be got out this month ; and 



